Gnatalie, the 75-foot green sauropod, will be the first of its kind on display anywhere in the world. (Photo courtesy of Natural History Museum)

For over 100 years, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has fascinated visitors with artifacts spanning billions of years of Earth’s history. From towering fossils of prehistoric titans to priceless gems found deep underground, a visit to the museum’s exhibitions evokes a sense of wonder for curious minds of all ages. This November, the museum will redefine its place in Los Angeles with the opening of a $75 million expansion project that increases its accessibility for all Angelenos – the NHM Commons.

Lori Bettison-Varga, president and director of the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, said the institution’s goal as it moves into the future is to be a museum “of, for and with Los Angeles,” the guiding principle behind the expansion.

“We thought, we should be a place that is a hub, a hub for community. A place for folks to engage, a place to co-create with the work that we’re doing here. We’re not always the experts. We have experts, but we should be engaging with the community. And through that process, we’ve come to think about our space in a different way,” she said.

The project, designed by Frederick Fisher and Partners, completely transforms the southwestern end of the museum – located in the heart of Exposition Park – into an indoor-outdoor plaza that will welcome visitors to view certain exhibitions. Inside, it features a new café, gift shop, lobby and the Judith Perlstein Welcome Center, all of which can be accessed with or without a ticket to the museum. Additionally, a theater that seats up to 400 people will host museum programming and events. Outside, the public can make use of open spaces including a courtyard and amphitheater, or stroll through sustainably-planted landscaping, connecting the museum to the greater park area.

Bettison-Varga said the final design came after receiving input from the Los Angeles community – an effort that included outreach, focus groups, 50 partnerships and a Native American Advisory Council.

“As a museum, you want to be relevant. And to be relevant, you need to understand what community needs are. It’s not what we think they are, it’s actually the community telling us what it is that they’re worried about, what they’re concerned about and where we intersect with their needs,” she said.

Perhaps the most anticipated element of the commons is the installation of a 75-foot, long-necked dinosaur skeleton, which will be on prominent display in the Judith Perlstein Welcome Center. The sauropod – affectionately named “Gnatalie” for the many gnats that accompanied its discovery – will be the only display in the world of a green dinosaur skeleton. Due to volcanic activity millions of years ago, the dinosaur’s bones were fossilized in celadonite, a mineral with an olive green hue.

Barbara Carrasco’s once-censored 1981 mural “LA History: A Mexican Perspective” will be on permanent display in the commons. (photo courtesy of California Historical Society/LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes/Sean Meredith)

“This is the real deal, 80 percent real fossil, 20 percent cast, which is unusual. It was excavated over a decade not only by the museum folks, but also by students and volunteers and community members, so we consider it our community dinosaur,” Bettison-Varga said. “It takes a lot to bring a mount like that together, and it wasn’t done by one single individual or one single museum, but by a community.”

The dinosaur will be flanked by Barbara Carrasco’s 1981 mural “LA History: A Mexican Perspective.” The work is an 80-foot-long tribute to the many Mexican Americans and other marginalized groups who have shaped Los Angeles, yet whose stories are often erased. The work was originally commissioned by the Community Redevelopment Agency for Los Angeles’ bicentennial, which tried to censor the work and never put it on display. The agency took issue with 14 of the scenes depicted – moments in history including the Zoot Suit riots and the internment of Japanese Americans – which resulted in a protracted legal battle over the mural’s ownership. The mural’s place in the Natural History Museum Commons will be the first time it has been on permanent display, after only being shown publicly three times.

The welcome center will also be home to a digital display highlighting the contributions of community scientists, echoing the larger theme of the commons.

As famous museums around the world reconcile their own colonial origins and wrestle with issues like stolen artifacts, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is hoping to prove that museums can be a place for positive change in the 21st century, where people can come together to learn, understand and heal.

“[The commons] says to our community and to the world that we are a place that really values the engagement, understands the harm of institutions like ours in the past and really makes sure that as an organization we continue to learn and embrace what our role is and how best to support community while we do our work. And it’s ‘in dialogue with.’ Not ‘we’re going to tell you what we’re going to do,’” Bettison-Varga said.

The expansion will be completed in the coming months and officially open on Nov. 17. A block party – which is fittingly, free and open to the public – will include music, food and drinks, and special performances to celebrate the future of the museum and surrounding Exposition Park.

“Exposition Park is going to be completely different in terms of a location for community and civic engagement, along with athletics, art, culture – it’s the whole realm here,” Bettison-Varga said.

“Gnatalie” was excavated by a team of NHM researchers, students and volunteers. (photo courtesy of NHMLAC)